‘Servitors can’t wear casuals while offering prayers inside Puri temple’

BHUBANESWAR: The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) in Puri on Monday banned servitors from wearing western casuals like jeans, T-shirts and shorts while offering prayers inside the sanctum sanctorum of the 12th century shrine from October 21. They have instead been asked to dress in traditional attire such as dhoti, gamcha or kurta pyjama.
In the first phase, the dress code will be applicable only at two locations — the sanctum sanctorum and bhitara kathain — of the shrine. Subsequently, traditional Indian wear will be made mandatory for servitors everywhere on the sprawling premises of the main temple as well as its 136 subsidiary shrines.
A similar traditional dress code will be adopted for the employees of the Jagannath temple administration from November 5. The stakeholders will be consulted before introducing a dress code for the devotees in the future, the temple officials said.
“We have observed that there are strict dress codes in different temples across the country. Initially, we will introduce a traditional dress code for the servitors and other temple staff. Later, we may think of a dress code for the devotees,” Krishan Kumar, the chief administrator of the SJTA, said.
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